Chicagobob wrote on 07/19/11 at 11:17:46:Has anyone finished one of these? Have riding impressions to share?
I've got about 350 miles on mine, and it's even more fun than I hoped it would be. I mainly ride it around town and on shorter rides up into the canyons around Boulder. Canyon roads here are usually quite smooth, and without much to upset the suspension, the handling is stable and predictable, easy to go fast. It does get a lot of attention, and it's pretty cool that no one knows what it is. It can be pretty loud, but if I take it easy, I can cruise in and out of my neighborhood without getting dirty looks.
Setup: optional Progressive fork mods with 1" cut off the fork spacers, optional Progressive shocks on softest setting. I weigh about 155.
My other bike is a ZX-6R, so most impressions are relative to it.
1) Steering is a lot slower, and I'll probably switch to an 18" front wheel to speed things up a bit. It takes more of a push/pull on the bars to get things to happen.
2) There's more flex in the forks and frame, and in sweepers you can definitely feel the bike moving around. Not scary or anything, but very different to the Ninja. I'll probably get a Superbrace for the forks.
3) It feels fast even if it isn't. 60 mph feels like 90 mph on the Ninja. My license is far safer on the Ryca.
4) With stock belt drive, gearing feels pretty short and there's plenty of grunt off the line. Winter project will be chain conversion and experimenting with gearing.
5) Riding position is comfortable for me, though I'll be working on the seat's shape/padding over the winter. Seat is actually a bit wide for me, and I start to feel the edges after about 30 minutes.
6) Small tank means you can't spend too long in the saddle. I still have some jetting issues to work out, but I hit reserve somewhere between 50 and 60 miles. Haven't yet run it dry to see what max range is.
7) Braking takes more advance planning, just because they aren't as strong as I'm used to. Nice thing about thumpers is that you have so much engine braking that you don't need to use the brakes as much.
Bottom line is that I'm incredibly happy with the bike. A few tweaks here and there...
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